Latest news with #BanthiaCommission
Hindustan Times
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
SC ruling on local body polls a win for Mahayuti
MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to conduct local body elections according to the number of wards in 2017 and the new structure of wards being finalised by the state government. The court also clarified that the OBC reservation prevailing before the submission of the Banthia Commission report in July 2022 will be considered for the local body elections, expected to be held from November. Mumbai... 16th February 2012... News... A women cast her vote for BMC elections at Jogeshwari, Meghwadi on Thursday - HT photo by Sattish Bate (Hindustan Times) The ruling, made while hearing a case filed by a former chairperson of the Ausa municipal council in Latur district, is a relief for the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra on three major fronts –ward formation, number of wards, and the OBC quota. The OBC-quota-related ruling of 27% OBC seats in district councils and municipal corporations will help the government keep over 33,834 seats that would have been reduced, according to the Banthia Commission recommendations. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had amended the law to increase the number of seats in local bodies according to the projected rise in the population. It had also seized powers regarding the formation of wards from the SEC. Subsequently, the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government kept ward-formation powers with the government but scrapped an amendment increasing the number of wards. 'Apart from upholding the Mahayuti government's decision, the court has also agreed to keep the OBC quota prevailing before the submission of the Banthia Commission recommendations, intact. The commission report had scrapped OBC reservation in many wards in local bodies and it would have deprived the OBCs from representation. OBCs have stood strongly with the Mahayuti alliance in assembly polls, and the ruling by the apex court will benefit us in the local body polls later this year,' said a BJP leader. The leader added, 'While increasing the number of wards of municipal corporations including Mumbai (where they were increased from 227 to 236) and Thane, the MVA had tweaked the wards in such a way that the coalition would benefit. The SC ruling has negated that risk.' The ruling by the Supreme Court will help the SEC hold the local body polls as planned. 'The process of ward formation for the district councils will be completed by August 25, while for municipal corporations and municipal councils, it will be completed by October 13 and 6, respectively,' said an SEC official. 'The finalisation of the voters' list and reservations will be conducted simultaneously and is expected to be completed by end-October. We expect the first phase of district council elections to be held after Diwali, in the second week of November,' he added. He said Monday's ruling will help the SEC keep to the schedule it had set for the polls. Food and civil supplies minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is the NCP's OBC face, said, 'After the submission of the Banthia Commission report, there was a question mark lingering on the OBC quota in local body elections. The commission had recommended an OBC quota of 10% and 15% in some wards, from the flat 27% existing until then. We are happy that it will now be 27%, which has been prevailing since 1993.'
The Hindu
07-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Interview: If Marathas continue to ask for reservation under OBC category, we will fight it, says Chhagan Bhujbal
Maharashtra OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal, who was recently inducted in the Maharashtra Cabinet, days after he had openly expressed dissent against his leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar for keeping him out of the cabinet, spoke to The Hindu in an elaborate, sit-down interview . From the recent Supreme Court verdict on Maharashtra local body elections, to the OBC- Maratha reservation tussle, from the internal discussion within the party about his political prospects to the anger for being denied a Cabinet berth, from the Thackerays to the Pawars; and calling the Government's own OBC Commission report a 'sham', he spoke candidly on several issues. Here are the excerpts of the interview. Also read | Chhagan Bhujbal slams Banthia panel report on OBCs How do you see the Supreme Court's recent order asking for local body elections to be held as per the law for OBC reservation, prior to the 2022 Banthia Commission report? We are very happy that we got justice from the Supreme Court. When the Mandal Commission recommendations were accepted, people went to the Supreme Court. Then, a nine-judge bench had given a verdict. That is the final verdict. Afterall, the Supreme Court is supreme. (referring to the Indra Sawhney verdict) The Supreme Court will look into the Banthia Commission report only later now. The Banthia Commission report was submitted in a hurry. Within one month, is it possible that sitting at home, sitting in air-conditioned places, can you have the caste census all over Maharashtra? For example, I will tell you. Gaikwad is a surname. When the Commission was going through the electoral rolls, the officers marked 'Gaikwad' as Maratha. But Gaikwad is an SC too, an OBC too, even a Mali community member. I don't agree with the Banthia Commission report, but because, at that time, there was the Supreme Court which was sitting on our State Government's head, we had to submit that report. I had raised the problems about the Commission report with Uddhav Thackeray then, as he was the Chief Minister. He had said that the elections to 92 local bodies had to be conducted with zero OBC reservation. If we took this up, then it will create problems for other local body elections too. Will you take back the report in that case? It doesn't matter. Till then, my election will be done [referring to the local body elections[ and we will fight it out thoroughly. The nine-judge judgment of the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case is already there. Now, when the case continues, it will take years together. And, by that time, as the Prime Minister has declared, there will be a caste census. With the caste census, it will be crystal clear. How will the caste census affect the OBC politics in Maharashtra? OBCs have played a prominent role in politics not just in Maharashtra, but also in U.P., in Bihar, in Tamil Nadu, in Karnataka, in Telangana. After 1931, there has been no caste census. This has been a long-pending demand. We have been cheated once by the Congress in 2010, when Pranab Mukherjee had assented to caste census after all the OBC leaders had come together in the House. In Maharashtra, the Marathas too want a slice of the OBC quota. I, Chhagan Bhujbal, will fight this tooth-and-nail. Our house is already full. OBC is not a caste. It is a class. There are many small groups in it. There is no space in our house. So we are telling the Marathas, don't come here. You have another house, please go there. If they still continue to ask for reservation under the OBC category, we are ready. We will fight it. Even they won't get anything in that case. 60% MLAs are Marathas, 60% Ministers are Marathas. The Chief Ministers have been Marathas. The banks are with them, the milk co-operatives, the sugar co-operatives are with them. The district bodies are with them. And they still want reservation from the OBC quota. So far, the demand for Maratha reservation has come up thrice. And all the three times, I supported them. But I will fight it if they want reservation from the OBC quota. Also, Manoj Jarange Patil has been responsible for creating a rift between the OBCs and the Marathas. He has disturbed the social fabric. It is being said that Chhagan Bhujbal has been brought in the cabinet due to the intervention of CM Devendra Fadnavis, for OBC votebank in the upcoming local body elections. I have been in politics for several decades now. And every time I was given an opportunity from being a Mayor to becoming the Deputy Chief Minister, it was not because I was an OBC. How can you say that now? Yes, my induction will help the Mahayuti in the coming elections. Devendra Fadnavis had insisted in December as well, that I should be in Cabinet. But Ajit dada listened only now. At that time, he did not listen. The fact is also that I am the Minister of Ajit Pawar. It is up to him to decide who he should include in the cabinet. Do we say that there is an uneasy truce between Ajit Pawar and Chhagan Bhujbal now? I am one of the founder members of NCP, along with Sharad Pawar. All of a sudden, I was thrown out. I was upset. I stuck with the party even when the Congress had offered me the Chief Minister's position at one point. Otherwise I would have been there in Vilasrao Deshmukh's place. And yet, the kind of treatment which was given to me this time was not appropriate. I was shocked. Do you foresee yourself going to the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha? Of course, I want to go. I have been in State politics for 40 years now. I had requested my party to send me to the Parliament. Now, once everything settles here, I will definitely ask them to let me go. Do you see the Pawar uncle-nephew duo coming together again? I have worked with Balasaheb Thackeray for 25 years. I have worked with Sharad Pawar for decades. I have seen the affection Balasaheb had for Raj Thackeray. I have seen Ajit grow under the tutelage of Sharad Pawar. It is hurtful when families split. I will be very happy if the Thackerays [Uddhav and Raj] reunite and the Pawars come together. Who wants to see a rift in the family? But it is our wishful thinking. I don't think it will happen.
The Hindu
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Chhagan Bhujbal slams Banthia panel report on OBCs
Days after the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the Maharashtra local body elections without the Banthia Commission recommendations on OBC reservation, Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has torn into the commission appointed by the State government in 2022 over the issue. When asked if the State government will now withdraw the report submitted before the Supreme Court, the Minister said it would not matter as the nine-member Bench's judgment in the Indira Sawhney case would stand valid. In an interim order, the Supreme Court recently directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to hold the pending local body elections in the State along with the OBC reservation status that existed before 2022 when the Banthia Commission had submitted its report. 'Reservation shall be provided to the OBC communities as per the law as it existed in the State prior to the 2022 report of the Banthia Commission,' the court stated in its order. Hitting out at the Banthia Commission for its methodology of conducting the survey, Mr. Bhujbal said, 'Within one month, is it possible that sitting at home, sitting in air-conditioned places, can you have the caste census all over Maharashtra? For example, I will tell you. Gaikwad is a surname. When the commission was going through the electoral rolls, the officers marked 'Gaikwad' as Maratha. But Gaikwad is an SC too, an OBC too, even a Mali community member. I don't agree with the Banthia Commission report, but because, at that time, there was the Supreme Court which was sitting on our State government's head, and we had to submit that report.' The Minister said that he had also raised the issue with the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, as he was a part of the Cabinet even then. 'I was told that if we don't submit this report, we will have to conduct the elections with zero reservation for the OBCs. So I let it be at that time,' he said. Mr. Bhujbal punched holes in the committee report. 'When the copy (of the Banthia Commission report) came to me, I found that in Sinnar, one of the talukas of Nasik district, in four places, there were zero OBCs, as per the report. I said, it is not possible. I sent my people from Nasik to those villages. In one village, an OBC was the sarpanch. In another village, there were five OBCs elected in the gram panchayat. I told this to Uddhavji. I asked him, 'What is it going on? Is this the way?' And some people, they purposely called the Collectors to tell them that the OBC percentage in that district should be limited to a particular figure. Uddhavji told me that in 92 places we had to conduct elections with zero reservation for the OBCs. Let it go, otherwise we will get nothing.' The Minister claimed that as per the 1931 census, OBCs were 54 per cent and should get 27 per cent reservation. 'In some places, Banthia Commission said that there were very few OBCs. For example, in Mumbai, he said there were only six per cent OBCs. What is he saying? Here, all the hard-working communities are from the OBC class – whether they are coolies on the railway stations. Even those from U.P. - the Yadavs, Kurmis, Kushwahas. They are all OBCs. And what does he say? How can it be six per cent?' he asked. He also claimed that there was an internal tussle within the Banthia Commission, and one of the members challenged the former bureaucrat. He said that at that time, they let it go as the Supreme Court had sought a time-bound report for the holding of elections. Madhya Pradesh model The State Minister said that the Maharashtra government had followed the Madhya Pradesh model while appointing the Banthia Commission for the OBC reservation. But the Banthia Commission did not deliver due to time constraint. 'We don't agree, I don't agree with the Banthia Commission, but because, at that time, the Supreme Court was sitting on the State government's head, we had to give it.' When asked if the government would now withdraw the report, he said it would not matter. 'Till then, my election should be there and we will fight it out thoroughly. The nine-member Bench order of the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case is already there. We will show it. This time, there was not enough time. Now, when the case continues, it will take years together. And, by that time, as the Prime Minister has declared, there will be a caste census. With the caste census, it will be crystal clear,' he said. (The video of the full interview of Maharashtra Cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal can be watched on 'Pulse Maharashtra' on The Hindu's YouTube channel)
Hans India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Reservations in India are like a train compartment: Those inside don't want others to come in says SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday compared reservations in the country with a train and said those who enter the compartment "don't want others to come in." A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while hearing a plea opposing the other Backwards Class (OBC) reservations in Maharashtra local body elections. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner Mangesh Shankar Sasane, submitted that Maharashtra government's Jayant Kumar Banthia-led commission gave 27 per cent reservations to OBCs in the local body elections without actually ascertaining if they were politically backward. Justice Kant turned to Sankaranarayanan, "The thing is, in this country, the reservation business has become like a railway. Those who have entered the compartment don't want anyone else to enter. This is the whole game. That is precisely the game of the petitioner also." Sankaranarayanan said compartments were being "added at the back also" and submitted political backwardness was distinct from social and educational backwardness, and the OBCs couldn't be automatically presumed to be politically backward. "Within the OBCs, politically backward and socially backward classes should be identified for the purpose of reservations," he said. Justice Kant said when one follows the principle of inclusivity, states were bound to identify more classes. "There will be social backward class, politically backwards class, and economically backward classes. Why should they be deprived of the benefit? Why should it be confined to one particular family or group?" he added. The top court issued notice on the plea and sought the state government's response while tagging the matter with the pending ones. Maha local body polls In the meantime, in another matter over OBC reservations in Maharashtra local bodies the bench ordered the state election commission to notify the polls in four weeks which are to be held in line with the period before the 2022 Banthia Commission report.
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Hold overdue Maharashtra local polls within 4 months, Supreme Court tells state election panel
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Maharashtra state election commission to notify elections for local bodies within four weeks while disapproving bureaucrats manning the panchayats and municipal corporations because of the non-holding of solicitor general Tushar Mehta appearing for Maharashtra agreeing with senior advocate Indira Jaising for holding elections without following the recommended reservations for OBCs in local bodies, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh asked the EC to follow the OBC reservation specifications as existed before the Banthia Commission's report of July bench said since recommendations of the Banthia Commission have not yet been fully crystallised by the state govt, the elections to local bodies - there are 409 urban local bodies and over 28,000 rural local bodies - will be held as per the OBC reservations applicable to constituencies prior to July had not been held in many of these local bodies for years because of SC's status quo order in Aug 2022. The bench said it is unthinkable in our country, where grassroot democracy is given importance both in society and in the Constitution, to find local bodies without representatives of people and manned by bureaucrats without any accountability."The Constitution mandates grassroot democracy through periodical elections to local bodies. This ought to be respected since elected bodies have a prescribed term and no irreversible damage will be caused by holding elections," the bench elections will be subject to the outcome of the petitions pending in the court, the bench said. The elections had not been conducted because of a status quo order passed by the SC in Aug 2022 on petitions challenging the state govt's ordinance, which based on Banthia Committee recommendations had provided for 27% OBC reservation in local SC had stayed the election process on the ground that there must be enumeration of OBC population on the ground. The solicitor general told the bench that the enumeration of OBC population on the ground required layered processes to be completed and hence could take time. However, he said the state govt has no objection to the SC directing holding of the elections based on pre-2022 OBC reservation advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said Banthia commission specified 27% reservation in local bodies without ascertaining political backwardness of OBCs and differentiating from social and educational backwardness to indicate possibility of perpetuation of stranglehold of a few OBC communities over the local bodies. SC said, "The reservation business in the country has become like railways. Those who have entered the bogies do not want others to enter. That is the whole game and precisely the game of petitioners."
